The commission also factored in offenders’ criminal histories to look at whether violence in offenders’ pasts could account for the racial disparities ― and found that it did not. Looking at 2016, the only year for which such data was available, the commission found that, after controlling for criminal history, black men still received 20.4 percent longer sentences than did white men.

This report’s findings match those of a previous USSC report from 2007 to 2011, which found a nearly 20 percent gap in sentences between black and white men.

The percentage difference in sentence length between black and white male offenders has increased from 1998 to 2016. Red is 1998 to 2003, green is 2003 to 2004, blue is 2005 to 2007, black is 2007 to 2011 and yellow is 2011 to 2016.

The racial disparities in sentencing appear to have increased over the last two decades, worsening specifically after 2005.

According to older USSC reports, the gap between black and white men in sentencing was about 11 percent for 1998 to 2003 and 5 percent for 2003 to 2005. But it jumped to 15 percent for 2005 to 2007 and to nearly 20 percent thereafter.

But the factors contributing to racial disparities in sentencing are complex, according to Marc Mauer, director of the nonprofit Sentencing Project. Judges aren’t the only factor, or necessarily even the biggest, in sentencing disparities.

“It’s not necessarily racist judges,” Mauer told HuffPost by email Friday. “But much of [the] disparity [is] likely due to decision-making by prosecutors.”

Mauer pointed to research from scholars Sonja Starr and Marit Rehavi, which found that prosecutors “have a huge impact on sentences,” as they have broad discretion in how to charge an offender or whether to offer a plea-bargain.